Aerial railway and car



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. J. MORRISON.

AERIAL RAILWAY AND GAR.

No. 342,757. l Patented MayZ, 1886'.

AAW A A M A ATTORNEYS.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. J. MORRISON.

- AERIAL RAILWAY AND GAR.

No. 342,757. Patented May 25, 1886.

M *L FZ/3. J.

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UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

ANDREV J. MORRISON, OF HUME, NEV YORK.

'AERIAL RAILWAY AND CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,757, dated May 25, 1886.

Application filed November 2, 1885. Serial No. 181,73l. (No model.)

.To all whom, it may concern:

Beit known that I, ANDREW J. MoEEIsoN, of Hume, in the county of Allegany and State of New York, have invented a new and useful 4 Improvement in Aerial Railways and Cars, of which the following is a description.

Figure l is a perspective view of the elevated railway with carin transit. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section ol' the upper portion of the ear. Fig. 3 is avertical sectional view through the elevator and tower, showing the car in side elevation; and Fig. 4. is a transverse vertical section ofthe carin the elevator.

My invention relates to certain improvements upon that form of aerial railway in which a car is suspended upon elevated wire cables or tracks sustained upon towers at in-A tervals, which cables or tracks are provided with means for raising or lowering them, and which tracks, by being raised behind the car, cause the car to continually travel upon an incline, and thus move from tower to tower by its own gravity.

My present invention consists of such im' provements in the trucks and means for opert ating them, and in the peculiar construction and adaptation of the car to the same, as will,`

be hereinafter fully described.

In the drawings, A represents-one of the towers, of which there are a series placed at' These towersiare made of sectional iron bars or beams strongly a suitable distance apart.

braced, and having vertical guide-bars B B within the same. Inside these guide-bars is arranged an elevator-frame, car, or inclosure, C, having antifriction rollers a, that bear against the guide-bars B as the elevator rises and -falls. and is raised and lowered by a rope, b, at each corner, which passes over a pulley, b', at the top of the tower, and thence extends down to a windlass,C, on each side of the tower, upon which two windlasses the four ropes are wound or unwound to raise or lower the elevatorframe. These windlasses are operated by a steam-engine, (not shown,) and by means of suitable underground or overhead cables. One engine may be arranged to drive the windlasses of several towers.

On the inner sides of the two opposite vertical walls of the elevator are secured the This elevator-frame is sustained.

track-cables D D, which are composed of steel wires. These track-cables are made in sections, which extend from one tower to the next, so that there shall be no splice or joint between the towers, and the ends aresecured to the sides of the elevator in line with the flangesections of track d d, affixed to the elevator, the ends of the cables being connected to the elevator, and provided with tension-pulleys around which the cables pass, and then turn and are secured to the floor-timbers of the elevator-car by adjustable screw-bolts Z, for the purpose of taking up the slack in the cables or adapting them to the expansion and contraction of Varying temperatures. The cables 'are also made of increased thickness as they near the towers, the object being to render them stiffer at these points and less liable to sag or hang down with a sudden incline as 7o they leave the elevators, which would interfere with the smooth running of the car.

To hold the towers steadily in place against any tendency to deiection from the winds, guyropes E are attached to the four corners at the top, and are fastened to the ground at a distance from the base of the tower.

F is the car, which is suspended upon and travels over the cable-tracks D D. This car is, however, provided with wheels underneath 8o the same to allow it to move gradually otffrom and onto the the landing-platforms, and said car is also/made wedge shape, so as to present as little resistance to the air as possible. To the upper portion of the car is attached a rocking frame or top, F', which carries the wheelsffff3 and their axles, which wheels rest upon the track-cables. This top frame is centrally pivoted or fnlcrumed to the car at g, and from the ends of this top frame cords 9o h extend downwardly to the under side ofthe car, Where they are wound upon a Windlass,

G. These cords and the windlass, together with the joint atg, permit thetop frame of the car to occupy any inclination on the track- 9 5 cables while the car itself may, by winding up the ropes at one end and unwinding them at the other, be set always horizontal or level.

H is a brake,which rests beneath the cabletrack and presses the same in a curve up rco around the wheel j' when it is desired to retard or stop the car. This brake is attached to rection allows the brake to drop down.

slide I, which moves in guides J on the top part of the car, and has an inturned upper end, t', which is lifted to apply the brake by a cam, j, hung loosely on the shaft of wheels f. This cam, when swung in one direction,raises the brake, and when moved in the other di- To operate this cam, a rod, k, is connected at one end to the same and at the other end is attached to a piston working in a cylinder, Z. Into this cylinder, upon one sideof the piston, an ai r-pi pe, m, opens, and into the cylinder upon the other side of the piston another air-pipe, m', opens, and both these are connected to a compressedair chamber, J', and are providedwith valves and hand-wheels a n', by means of which compressed air may be admitted to either side of the piston, to work the same and apply or remove lthe brakes.

For filling the ai r-chamber with compressed air the shaft of one of the wheels j" is provided with a crank that works the piston of an air-pump, l, which air-pump is thus operated by the revolution of the wh'eelsj'2 on the cable, and serves to constantly pump air into the receiver J. rlhis chamber is provided with a safety-valve, which automatically allows the air to escape when it reaches a gi ven pressure.

In connection with the air-brake as thus described I propose to use an ordinary brake mechanism operating by a chain and shaft with hand-wheel for the purpose of applying the brake by hand if the air-brake should get out of order.

For stopping a car at anyone of the towers or stations an adjustable tappet-lever, L, is arranged in the top part of the elevator, which, when adjusted to a`certain`position, strikes an arm, M, on the valve-shaft, which applies the air-brake, and which tappet-lever L may be set bythe station-keeper so as to come into range of the arm M and apply the brake, and thus stop the car or be removed from contact therewith when it is not desired to stop the car. `This device is mainly intended for freightcans on which no person need to travel.

At the terminal stations, and also at the towers. suitable landing-platforms are provided for the car to rest upon. Y

The railway as thus described isV designed not only for crossing streams, but also for crossing heavy grades, mountains, &c.

Among the advantages that this system comprehends are the following: There is no smoke nor dust, no blockade from snow nor washouts from flood, no bridges to build, no grading to be done, no culverts, no ties, and no engine, the car passing of its own gravity on the trackcables, which, where they connect with the towers, are raised by the raising ofthe elevator as soon as the car has passed the towers, thus repeating the incline between each and every tower.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. The combination, with the towers, having each an elevator constructed as a verticallyadjustable car or inclosure, C, with guides for controlling the movement of the same, of a set of cable-tracks attached to the elevators, a set of suspending-ropes for the elevators, pulleys at the top ofthe tower for carrying these ropes, and windlasses at the bottom of the tower for raising and lowering the elevators, substantially as described.

2. rIhe combination, with the track-cables, of the vertically-adjustable elevator car or inclosure C, attached to the ends of the cables, and having track-sections d d, attached to the sides of the elevator, in line with the cable, as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with the vertically-adj ustablc elevators,.of the track-cables attached to the same and made of increased thickness nearer the elevators, as and for the purpose described.

4. The con'ibination, with the elevator cars or inclosures C, and means for raising and lowering the cans, of the cables I), passed around pulleys on the sides of the elevator and connected to the floor-timbers of the elevator by adjustable screw-bolts c, as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination, with the suspended car, of a jointed upper portion bearing the suspension-wheels f ff f, a windlass arranged under the car, and ropes running therefrom to the ends of the jointed top section, to adjust the level of the car, as described.-

6. The combination, with the suspended car, of an air-chamber, an air-pump connected to and deriving motion from one of the supporting-wheels of the car, a cylinder, l, with piston and rod k, the cam j, and slide I, carrying brake-shoe H, and valves for regulating the admission of air to the cylinder Z, to apply or remove the brake-shoe, as described.

ANDREW J. MORRISON.

Vitnesses:

JOHN H. HowDEN, MARTIN l). VVILDAY.` 

